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What the Abhidhamm Is

Lectured By Rev. Uttamananda

03 August 2014

The term Abhidhamm is a compound of two Pli words: Abhi, special, and Dhamma,

doctrine. It is for the sake of general understanding. Sometimes, the term Abhidhamm is

translated in English as Buddhist Psychology, even as Buddhist Philosophy. Those

renderings do not convey the entire meaning of it. Mr. Rhys Davids called it Buddhist

Psychological Ethics which is a sound correctness.

Philosophy and Ethics are interconnected in the Buddha's teachings. It mentions in the

Nine Attributes of Buddha that knowledge and conduct go together. They cannot be

separated one from the other though they can be divided for comprehending purpose.

Therefore, if Abhidhamm is translated as Buddhist Psychology, it is lack of ethics. Unlike

the Western Psychology which analyzes only the mentality without examining the

behavioral aspects, the Buddhist Psychological Analysis is fully based on a moral

foundation. Without morality one may not talk of the Buddhist Psychology or Buddhist

Philosophy which is closely related to the human behavior.

There some memory is necessary for understanding of the Abhidhammic analysis, yet

it is not compulsory things to memorize all the components analyzed in Abhidhamma. It

needs to understand the practical aspect of Abhidhamm as it is closely related to daily life of

a man. It has no an intellectual enterprise. Abhidhamm is said a later development though

Theravda tradition accepts it. It is clear Kathvatthu, Points of Controversy, one of the

seven texts of Abhidhamm Piaka was added by Venerable Moggaliputta Tissa at the third

Buddhist Council held in 3rd century B.C. It is however not a problematic matter, for the

Buddha had given permission to His disciples to expand and analyze His teachings while He

was living. Venerable Mah Kaccyana was appointed as the foremost among those who

explained the Buddhas brief teaching in detail. There are many discourses in the Canon

preached by the disciples. It is not the matter of fact whether Abhidhamm is later or earlier.

The most important thing is how it is useful and practical and how it is related to the

Buddhas teachings.

Abhidhamm is therefore not a new invention. It is a philosophical and psychological

analysis of the Early Buddhist teachings. Some people say that they can't accept Abhidhamm

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and they can only depend on the first four Nikyas. Nevertheless, no one can deny there are

many discourses that cannot be understood without referring to Abhidhamm or the

commentaries. The commentary means nothing but the Abhidhamm, because the

commentators had to comment on the Buddhas teachings by contributing the Abhidhammic

philosophy in their discussion. They tried to systematize the Abhidhammic philosophy

depending on the Buddhas teachings. Abhidhamm is thus a systematic teaching which

comprises beginning, middle, and end. The early teachings of Buddha however are not

organized as He preached to different people according to their situations and requirements.

They can be found out as individual teachings in the Nikyas expounded by the Buddha.

When a comparison is made them each other, there arise many problems. The Abhidhamm

or the commentaries is an attempt of later disciples to solve such problems arisen out of the

discourses. Abhidhamm can be introduced as the philosophical interpretation of Early

Buddhist teachings. In that case, Abhidhamm isn't something new, but it is an effort by the

disciples to interpret the Buddhas teachings properly and comprehensively.

In the introduction of Ahaslin, the commentary on Dhammasagan, Venerable

Buddhaghosa says that if someone knows Abhidhamm, he is a preacher of Dhamma

(Dhamma Kathika), but others who do not understand Abhidhamm are not preachers. Those

who know Abhidhamm are the real preachers even though they don't preach Dhamma,

because if a question is asked, only they can solve it adequately. Therefore, learning

Abhidhamm is of crucial and helpful to understand the Early Buddhist teachings. The more

important thing however is to learn how Abhidhamma is related to a man's life.

There are different Abhidhammic traditions such as Theravda, Sarvastivda, and

Sautrantika. They have their different interpretations. How the Early Buddhist teachings of

personality were interpreted in the later Abhidhammic traditions should be known. In Early

Buddhism, the human personality is explained as five aggregates of matter, feelings,

perception, disposition and consciousness. These five aggregates are person and the whole

world as well. It is better to say the world of experience because Buddhism does not talk

on the separate world. Everything is discussed in relation to the person. The whole world

including the person is explained in these five aggregates. This is the basis of all

Abhidhammic interpretations, except Nirvna and Paiccasamuppda.

Any complete philosophy should have two aspects as its essential part: an analysis of

the world and synthesis, i.e., explaining how such analyzed factors are combined. In Early

Buddhism, Dependent Co-origination (paiccasamuppada) is the synthesis whilst it is the

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'Theory of Relations in Abhidhamm'. If something is analyzed, we have to explain how they

are inter-related in synthesis.

If someone asks why we need a good knowledge, Buddhism would say that all human

purposes are fulfilled with right knowledge including the realization of Nirvana. If the

realization of nirvana is our purpose, we should have wisdom, the special knowledge. While

studying Abhidhamma, we should get wisdom for the realization of Nirvna. We however

should have general knowledge in our day to day life. Human beings thus get the knowledge

whether or not special knowledge by understanding two factors of analysis and synthesis.

Both factors can be available in any kind of comprehension. The Western philosophers talk

about the knowledge of the facts as well as the knowledge of the relationship among the

facts. The former means the knowledge of analysis whilst the latter is synthesis, e.g. to know

about the sun, heat, sky, wind, steam, cloud and moving are the knowledge of facts, but this

knowledge is not complete till we understand their relationships. To know how rain arises

from these facts can be worked out by synthesis of their relationship. This sample is

applicable to the Abhidhamm which has two kinds of knowledge of which we get the

knowledge of facts by analysis and the knowledge of relationship by studying the theory of

causality, i.e. synthesis.

***** The whole body of this lecture is referred to 2007 Lecture Notes, PGIPBS,

University of Kelaniya.